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Greece
}| }/Lore}} Greece, formally known as the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the north and northeast, and Albania to the northwest. History In 1830, after a decade of revolts and uprisings supported by the great powers against the Ottoman Empire, Greece obtained its independence with the signing of the London Protocol. The Kingdom of Greece would expand over the next 80 years from a small rump state barely extruding out of the Peloponnese to uniting more and more Greeks under its nation. The Ionian Islands from the British in 1864; Thessaly from the Ottomans in 1881; Epirus, the Aegean Islands, and Crete from the Ottomans at the end of the First Balkan War; and southern Macedonia and Salonika from Bulgaria at the end of the Second Balkan War. The Balkan Wars made Greece, Serbia, and Romania very close allies, as they had all fought together in the wars. Upon the outbreak of the Weltkrieg, the Greek government was split about which side to join. King Constantine I wished to join the Central Powers with Germany, however, the Greek Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos wished to back Serbia and the Entente. This disagreement would last for three years until Venizelos would force Constantine to abdicate. Constantine would flee into exile with his heir Prince George, leaving his second eldest son Alexander as the new king of Greece. Greece would join the Weltkrieg on the side of the Entente in 1917, which would prove disastrous for the nation. Fighting in the southern Balkans would prove to be a stalemate for a year. After the signing of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in early 1918, Austrian and Bulgarian troops prepare Operation Teutoberg, which would use specialized storm-troopers to take Greece out of the war. By holding the main defenders at Salonika, the Austro-Bulgarian forces were able to swiftly sweep through the rest of Greece. Athens fell on July 3, 1918, which forced the Greek government to surrender and the evacuation of Entente forces from Salonika. The Treaty of Salonika was forced upon the humiliated nation in 1919. Greece was forced to give up almost all its gains from the first two Balkan Wars that had occurred less than a decade prior. It lost all of its Macedonian lands, except for an exclave surrounding Salonika and the Chalkidiki peninsula. Crete was leased to Germany for an undisclosed amount of time, and the Ottomans were given most of the Aegean Islands back. Aside from the territorial loss, Austria and Germany both put high war debts upon Greece. King Alexander would try to negotiate these debts by allowing German and Austrian companies unrestrained access to the Greek economy. When this only made things worse, King Alexander fled the country as the third Hellenic Republic was declared. Alas, this new government was not to be, as years of failed governments and endless successions of coups plagued the nation. This would continue until General Georgios Kondylis would seize control of the country and declare himself the regent of Greece in 1926. He intended his regency to be permanent, as both former King Alexander and Prince George (King Constantine had died in exile in 1923) were still exiled. Kondylis would be overthrown and executed in 1931, and the fourth Hellenic Republic was declared. The first elections of the new republic would see the center-left New Liberal Union as the most dominant political party in the coalition government under the new Prime Minister Georgios Papandreou. A vengeful Greece looks across the European continent. It sees its closest allies and friends, Serbia and Romania, in a similar position as itself. More than a million Greeks had been separated from their motherland because of the Weltkrieg. Foreign companies, almost entirely Austrian and German, own nearly half of all Greek industry. If Greece would like to gain its pre-Weltkrieg status as a stable and proud nation, it must take initiative. Some are calling for a new Balkan League with Serbia and Romania to try to recreate the glory of the Second Balkan War and release Bulgaria's hegemony on the Balkans. This idea is gaining a lot of momentum across all three nations. A monarchist campaign is brewing across Greece, while a violent syndicalist minority opposes the return of either king. Greece must decide for itself on how to reclaim its former stability, its former allies, and its former glory... Politics Prime Minister: Georgios Papandreou Minister for Foreign Affairs: Themistoklis Sofoulis Governor of the Bank of Greece: Georgios Athanasiadis Novas Minister for the Interior and Public Order: Pafsanias Katsotas Military Army The Hellenic Army is quite large, it consists of nine infantry division, with various brigades attached. Navy and Air Force While the Hellenic Air Force is almost non-existent, the Hellenic Navy is numerous, even if outdated. It comprises two heavy cruisers, eight destroyers, and eight submarines. Foreign Relations Friendly relations with Serbia and Romania. Unfriendly relations with Bulgaria, the Ottoman Empire, and Austria-Hungary. Category:Countries Category:European countries Category:Belgrade Pact